


The Bodyguard's Last Job

by OutrealmKeeper



Category: Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Clerith, F/M, Hojo (mentioned) - Freeform, Nightmares, References to Crisis Core, angst with a side of fluff, references to Jenova Project, references to in-game human experimentation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:15:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29146530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OutrealmKeeper/pseuds/OutrealmKeeper
Summary: A nightmare prompts Aerith to request one more job from her bodyguard.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife
Comments: 11
Kudos: 49





	The Bodyguard's Last Job

**Author's Note:**

> This was written with love for Aerith, who has always been my favorite FF7 character and is just as much a character study as it is a little Clerith story.
> 
> Knowing how toxic this fandom can get, I want to make it clear that while I am an Clerith shipper, I have no hatred or strong dislike for any other ship. Please do not bring any shipping or fandom drama into my mailbox.

Aerith slowed her pace when she exited the tiny town and sighed in relief. It had been a long, bad night for her, but she had stubbornly remained in bed, determined to get back to sleep. Unfortunately, it had been a futile effort and, without waking Tifa or Yuffie, she had dressed and snuck out of their shared hotel room to get some air.

The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon. Aerith closed her eyes, pushed away the dark thoughts swirling around her brain, and focused her whole being into sensing the world around her. The crisp air raising goosebumps along her arms, the morning dew upon the grass wetting her bare feet, and the soft chirping of birds – she breathed it all in, opening herself in the hopes that she would hear a voice that might give her guidance.

To her dismay, a very different voice clawed its way to the forefront.

_ “I am far superior to the Ancients, far superior to you…” _

Aerith shook her head and redoubled her efforts, mentally reaching out and trying to conjure an image to center on. Maybe she should try to picture someone familiar, someone comfortable…

_ “Mother… mother... Would you like to see your mother?” _

She bit her lip and swallowed a sob. She would not think of it. She would not allow it to have power over her. It was a dream, just a dream. It was not real.

_ “Would you like to see your mother? We collected and catalogued every last bit of her.” A lump began to form at the top of the fourth neck, gradually taking shape and sprouting parts of a head in time with the words, “Hair, skin, organs, every fragment of every bone…” The neck rose and a grotesque approximation of Ifalna glared down at Aerith. “…as breathtaking in death as in life!  _

Aerith couldn’t contain it any longer. She sprinted away from the town as far as she dared – across a local farmer’s field and into a thicket of trees. She fell to her knees at the base of a tall oak and screamed. She wept and rocked and lost all awareness of everything but fear.

“Aerith? Aerith!”

A strong, gentle hand upon her shoulder pulled her back from the brink of despair. She looked up to find beautiful blue eyes, full of concern, staring at her.

“Cloud?” Aerith quickly rubbed her eyes. “W-what are you doing here?” 

The mercenary was kneeling in front of her. The hand that was not on her shoulder held his sword. “I was just about to ask you the same thing.”

She forced a small smile. “But I asked you first.”

Cloud grunted in annoyance. He let go of her and gestured around the grove. “Couldn’t sleep, so I came out here to do some training.”

“By yourself?”

He shrugged. “The monsters out here are pretty weak – good fodder for working on some new sword techniques.” He stood up, attached his sword to the strap across his back, and crossed his arms. “Your turn.” He was not glaring at her per se, but his expression warned her not to dodge the question.

Aerith used the trunk of the oak to balance as she got to her feet as well. She made a show of brushing imaginary dirt from the skirt of her dress to give herself a few extra seconds to think. “It was stupid,” she said at last with a self-deprecating grin. “I just had a nightmare, that’s all. And I overreacted.”

That much was true at least. There was more to it, but considering their recent trip to Nibelheim, Cloud had enough to worry about; she did not want to add to his stress.

The longer and farther they journeyed, the more complex it seemed to become. In their pursuit of Sephiroth, they were uncovering long-buried secrets, lies and half-truths, not to mention personal tragedies, all while malevolent forces pursued them wherever they went. And Cloud, it seemed, had a key role to play in all of it, but given the painful flashbacks and his unwillingness to discuss them at any length, she would much rather be a source of strength for him, not another worry. 

Aerith’s magic was strong, and growing stronger every day, and she was integral as the group’s healer. Regardless, her contributions felt small in comparison to Cloud or Barret’s raw power, Vincent or Red XIII’s remarkable insight, or Tifa and Yuffie’s unapparelled skill with their chosen combat styles. 

But smiling, laughing, and finding hope in any hopeless situation... that, at least, she could do for him, for all of them.

“A nightmare, huh? Must have been pretty bad to make you scream like that.”

Aerith rubbed her arm and kicked at the ground. “Yeah, it was pretty scary. But it wasn’t real, so it’s alright. I’m alright now.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Cloud asked, uncrossing his arms.

She did, actually. Perhaps not all of it yet, but keeping her thoughts and fears locked inside was not helping. Her biological mother had done everything she could to impart her wisdom and knowledge to Aerith during the tragically short span of their time together. Two things she remembered with clarity was Ifalna’s encouragement that fear could only maintain its full power when it remained hidden, and her insistence that truth would always find its way into the light.

And if she was honest, she found the most comfort from, and had the most faith in Cloud. She shared a bond with each member of their party, but what she had with Cloud was special, even if neither were willing to put a name to it yet.

But…

Aerith clasped her hands behind her back. “It’s alright. It’s a bit hard to explain.” She strolled past Cloud and started back in the direction of the village. “Besides, the others will be waking up soon. We should go meet them.”

She heard Cloud begin to follow her. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“It’s nothing, in the grand scheme of things. We’ve got bigger things to worry about than a silly ole’ dream.” She cast her gaze to the sky and tapped her chin. “Like… what are we gonna have for breakfast?”

“Aerith…” Cloud stepped in her way, almost making her trip on her own feet.

“Yes, Cloud?”

“Maybe there  _ are  _ more important things to worry about. And maybe it is stupid. But… tell me anyway.”

She made a little hum of surprise. “Are you sure?”

Cloud nodded. 

Aerith bowed her head. She really should let it go.

“ _ I’ve become a monster. As will you…” _

_ “My soul, corrupted by vengeance, hath endured torment. As will yours…” _

_ “I am far superior to the Ancients, far superior to you…” _

_ “Would you like to see your mother?” _

She bit her lip. “Okay.” 

Cloud pointed through the trees at the blooming wheat field that bordered the village. “There’s a bench up ahead, and one of the farm hands said he was going to leave a bucket of clean water for me to drink. Let’s go there.”

Aerith followed him to the aforementioned bench and found the promised pail. They took turns cupping their hands in the water, slurping to quench their thirst, and splashing their faces.

They sat in silence for a while, watching as the crimson hues of the sunrise faded to yellow and white. Finally, Cloud angled his body towards her and gestured for her to speak.

She took a deep breath and said, “I’m going to have to backtrack a bit and explain two things before I get to the actual nightmare, but I’ll try to keep it brief.” She peered at him. “You said my mom – Elmyra,I mean – told you about how we met, how she found me?” 

At Cloud’s affirmative, she went on, “Okay then. First thing: when I was taken back to the Shinra building, I found out what happened to my real mother, Ifalna, after Elmyra took me in. Hojo told me.” 

With great effort, Aerith repeated what the mad scientist had said verbatim. The words were permanently etched in her memory, like a depraved engraving on an epitaph.

_ “You’re the spitting image of her now. I regret it to this day. If she had only trusted me instead of trying to run, it could have played out quite differently. What a terrible tragedy, to lose the last of the pure-blooded Ancients, though not completely. Would you like to see your mother? Albeit through the lens of one of my microscopes. Did you really think we’d leave such a precious specimen to rot in the gutter? We collected and catalogued every last bit of her. Hair, skin, organs, every fragment of every bone… as breathtaking in death as in life! As you, my dear! Ifalna was elegance, right down to her cellular structure. And there it is, that same elegance.” _

She paused and put a hand over her lips, trying not to vomit.  __

Next to her, Cloud’s fingers curled into fists. “Bastard,” he growled.

Aerith waited until the cold, slimy feeling in her stomach abated. As soon as it did, she pressed on. 

“The second thing, well, I didn’t really want to mention it in case it upset you.”

Cloud raised an eyebrow. “Upset me how?”

She clenched the folds of her dress and wrung her hands. “W-when everyone was resting in the dormitory wing of the Shinra mansion in Nibelheim, I snuck back down into the underground library.”

“You did? Why?” 

To Aerith’s relief, he did not sound hurt or angry, merely confused. Nevertheless, she kept her eyes firmly focused on her fingers twisting in the pink fabric. “You told us that Sephiroth uncovered a lot of information about himself and Jenova from the reports stored there. I wanted to see for myself exactly what he found, and to try to understand why he came to the conclusions he did.”

_ Aerith brushed away the dust from the books laying on the desk and gingerly flipped through the yellowed pages. It was eerie to think that she might very well be about to read the same texts Sephiroth had five years ago, and as she absorbed the information contained therein, she tried to put herself in his place. _

_ “An organism that was apparently dead, was found in a 2000-year-old geological stratum. Professor Gast named that organism Jenova…Jenova confirmed to be an ancient…Jenova Project approved.”  _

_ Apparently, Sephiroth had been told that his mother’s name was Jenova. Aerith had learned the true nature of this creature through stories told to her by Ifalna, but considering the lies he had been fed, along with a multitude of experiments involving Jenova cells, she could see the path his mind had taken. Even discounting the biological contribution from a human mother, Sephiroth, and others like him, owed their existence to Jenova.  _

_ Not only that, but the infusion of its cells did arguably make them superior to normal humans, although the effects led to either, at best, a shortened life, culminating in degradation, and at worst, a monstrous form capable of vast destruction. Was it any wonder he went mad with anger and grief? That didn’t excuse his actions at all, but nor was he the sole perpetrator behind his crimes. _

“I will never forgive or sympathize with Sephiroth. But you do have a point,” Cloud begrudgingly conceded. “Shinra is as much to blame for all of this.”

“And they must be brought to justice, however long that might take,” Aerith said. “Sephiroth was not the first of his kind, and if we don’t stop Hojo, he won’t be the last.”

“Mmm.” Cloud agreed with a hum. He rubbed the back of his neck. “What does all this have to do with your nightmare?”

Aerith pursed her lips and breathed out. “I was… I dreamt that I was in a cave, fighting a hydra-like monster…”

_ She unleashed a volley of basic attacks, driving the monster back into a corner. Its single head retaliated with a super-heated exhale of flaming breath, but she deflected it back and up, away from her. The fiery force struck the cavern ceiling, and a stalactite cracked, splintered, and fell, impaling it in the neck. _

_ Aerith knew enough about these types of beasts to anticipate the regrowth of extra heads and was already cursing the folly of her previous move. What she had not foreseen was that when four long necks sprang from the top of its severed spine, the first skull to emerge would be human, not serpentine.  _

_ In a burst of putrid-smelling slime and a sickening slurping sound, a square face with jet black hair and lizard-like, mako-infused eyes burst into being from the right neck’s vertebrae. _

_ “I’ve become a monster,” it whispered sadly through razor sharp teeth. “As will you…” _

_ Aerith froze and time seemed to grind to a halt. Though the visage was distorted, the features were recognizable enough for her to recall their owner. “No, it can’t be!” she whispered in horror. She clutched her staff close in front of her body. _

_ The neck on the left convulsed and spit forth a second, more rounded head, this time with red hair. The full lips curled in a snarl. _

_ “My soul, corrupted by vengeance, hath endured torment,” it hissed. “As will yours…” _

_ Aerith’s frame trembled, and when she gasped, her breath fanned out in a puff of white mist. She took two tiny steps away from the monster. “You… you’re... b-but… how?” _

_ The top center neck flopped back, then snapped forward. Long, silver hair flowed from an angular face, narrowed eyes shone, and a cruel, fanged mouth sneered.  _

_ “I am the one that was produced,” it declared. “I have been chosen to be the leader of this planet. I am far superior to the Ancients, far superior to you…” _

_ Aerith’s blood turned to ice, though she shot back with more courage than she felt. “Says you! Sephiroth, you’re not a Cetra! You’re not a human or even a monster! You’ve become an abomination, a pawn of Jenova!” _

_ At the mention of the Calamity From the Sky, all three heads shook and wailed, while the fourth headless neck flopped around. “Jenova! Mother!” _

“I was so frightened. I knew I couldn’t defeat it, so I ran as fast and as far as I could. But it caught up with me.” Aerith shivered and hugged herself. “The heads kept taking turns speaking, saying - 

_ “Jenova… mother… last of the Ancients. Mother… mother... Would you like to see your mother?” _

“Then they stopped speaking with their own voices. They spoke in unison, and their combined voice sounded like Hojo.”

_ “Would you like to see your mother? We collected and catalogued every last bit of her.” A lump began to form at the top of the fourth neck, gradually taking shape and sprouting parts of a head in time with the words, “Hair, skin, organs, every fragment of every bone…” The neck rose and a grotesque approximation of Ifalna glared down at Aerith. “…as breathtaking in death as in life!" _

“I woke up just when my mother’s head was about to eat me.” 

She glanced over and could practically see the wheels turning in Cloud’s brain, trying to generate an image of what she had described. 

“That sounds pretty horrific. I can see why it upset you,” Cloud said. “Although, I’m not sure I understand what the other things you mentioned have to do with it.”

Aerith pulled her knees up onto the bench and wrapped her arms around them. “The thing is, the monster isn’t actually what scared me the most. I mean, it did, obviously, but it’s the idea behind it that really terrifies me.”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“You see, no matter what Hojo’s true aim is, his experiments always result in the creation of monsters,” Aerith explained with a tremor in her voice. “And he uses rare and powerful genetic material in his “research”. How can we be sure he hasn’t used my mother’s remains the same way he uses Jenova? And what if, someday, we run into one of them – a failed test subject, or a clone – of her?” 

She hid her face against her knees. “I don’t know if I could face it.”

“Ah, now I get it.” Cloud went quiet, but Aerith didn’t blame him. She wouldn’t know what to say either, if their roles were reversed.

To her surprise, she felt him scoot a little closer to her and clear his throat. “Listen, I don’t mean for this to sound… like how it’s going to sound. But I don’t think you’ll have to worry about facing any creatures bearing a resemblance to your mom.”

Aerith lifted her head to look at him. “You do?”

“Yeah.” Cloud pressed on as tactfully as he could. “Because the samples he took from her body are finite. They can’t be replicated, which means he can’t risk experimenting with them without destroying them. But Sephiroth and others like him were created using Jenova cells, a living source. As long as Jenova is alive, he can continue to harvest whatever he wants from its body without running out of material.”

“Huh. I guess you’re right.” Her relief was short-lived.

His hypothesis did make her feel better about her mother, but conversely, it elevated the potential repercussions for herself, should she ever be captured again. And that was the other reason the dream had disturbed her so. 

Cloud seemed to reach the same conclusion and hurried to reassure her. “Don’t worry. I won’t let Hojo or anyone else from Shinra take you away again.”

Aerith tried to look pleased, but only managed a grimace. “I know you mean that, but nothing is certain.” She lowered her voice. “You can’t protect or save everyone.”

Cloud groaned and gripped his head in both hands.

Aerith unfolded her body and reached for him. He flinched when she touched his arm but did not recoil.

“Cloud?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing.” He met her gaze, his features hardened with determination. “No one is going to harm you or take you away again.” Then he huffed and glanced away. “You hired me as your bodyguard, remember? If anything happens to you, my reputation as a mercenary would suffer, so it's in my best interest to ensure your safety.”

Aerith stared at him for a few beats, then burst out laughing. “Of course, yeah. How silly of me. However, technically, you completed your duties back in Midgar.”

“True, but a mercenary’s job isn’t over until they receive payment. You haven’t paid me yet, ergo, I am still your bodyguard.”

Aerith tilted her head. “What are you talking about? We agreed to one date, which concluded when you escorted me back to my mom’s.”

“Typically, dates don’t involve monsters, Turks or side jobs,” Cloud countered. 

“Hmm, fair enough.” Aerith folded her hands in her lap and looked up at the blue sky. “Okay, bodyguard. I won’t worry about being captured anymore, but I would like to add one more request to our agreement.”

“It’ll cost you.”

Aerith giggled. “I know.” Her grin vanished. “If… if the worst should happen to me at some point on this journey, please, don’t let Hojo find my body. Bury it, burn it; I don’t care. But don’t let him do to me what he did to my mom. And don’t let him use me to breed monsters or find the Promised Land.”

“It won’t come to that,” Cloud insisted. “Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

“You’re probably right,” Aerith said with as much conviction as she could muster.

She stood up and took a few steps forward away from the bench. “But… just in case, please, complete that one last job for me.” She whirled around and planted her hands on her hips. “You’re not going to turn down your client, are you, Mister Merc?”

Cloud pushed himself to his feet and reluctantly acquiesced. “Alright, fine. But considering the nature of the assignment, I’ll need a down payment up front.”

“Okay. But since I can only pay you in dates, what would constitute a down payment?”

Cloud raised his hand and held up his index finger. “I want one kiss.” He said this in his usual, resigned-sounding tone, but there was a hint of a blush high on his cheeks.

“Oh!” Aerith flushed as well.

“I-I mean, you don’t have to, but…”

“But that’s what you want, correct?” When he nodded, she skipped over, leaned up and placed a soft, lingering kiss on the corner of his mouth. 

“Will that do?” she whispered.

“For now,” Cloud croaked. 

“In that case, we should head back to the inn. After all, the sooner we get on the road, the sooner we can find a suitable venue for me to take you on a date.”

“Hmph.” Cloud smirked. “Sure.”

They started through the wheat field side by side. Just before they reached the road that would take them into the village, Aerith took Cloud’s hand.

“Hey Cloud? Thank you… for everything.” 

Cloud intertwined his fingers with hers but said nothing.

She gave him her brightest smile. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments are appreciated and feed the writer!


End file.
